For the first time in over a decade, Kalispell residents voted in a new mayor to oversee one of the fastest-growing cities in the West. Mayor-elect Ryan Hunter, a city councilor for the past two terms, attributed winning the nonpartisan mayoral race to “a lot of miles” logged walking door to door and talking with voters.

“You just can’t beat those conversations in terms of understanding the city and having the voters understand me as a candidate,” Hunter said. “Ultimately, I’m a firm believer that it’s those kinds of deep conversations that win elections.”

Hunter won with 2,930 preliminary votes, though the results remained unofficial as of Nov. 5. Local businesswoman Kisa Davison lost by a narrow margin with 2,667 votes, followed by current council member Sid Daoud at 1,790 votes.

Kali

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